Serie A side look to secure defender

Celtic centre-back Jozo Simunovic is attracting interest from Italy as he returns to training after a long period on the sidelines through injury.

Italian side Torino have submitted a bid of around £3.75 million according to Daily Mail after reports emerged several weeks ago of a £3 million bid for Simunovic, who is still recovering from knee surgery he underwent in March.

The Turin-based side were interested in Simunovic last summer when he still played for Dinamo Zagreb and are stepping up their pursuit of the defender this summer once again .

Torino are hoping to secure a deal for Simunovic, despite insisting on social media he didn’t want to leave.

A lot has been said in the last days about me leaving Celtic- and I tell you that there is no truth in that, I have a lot more to show (1)

— Jozo Šimunović (@SimunovicJozo) August 18, 2016

Simunovic last played in a Hoops jersey on January 23rd against St Johnstone before discovering the full extent of his knee injury, which he had been playing through for over a month.

He has made just 17 appearances for Celtic since signing on deadline day last year for a fee of around £3 million, and scored once against Dundee United.

Celtic had to cope without their big summer signing from last year, and were thankful that they acquired Erik Sviatchenko in January.

With the arrival of Brendan Rodgers, Kolo Toure has also been added to the ranks bolstering their options in the heart of the side.

Rodgers has only seen him train so far at Celtic, and the arrival of Cristian Gamboa later today could signal the end of his short spell at Paradise.